Thumb Wars
by half-hearted heroine
Summary: One, two, three, four, Sam declares a thumb war. Complications of the romantic type ensue. Flames welcome, T/S amd S/D love triangle. Changed from a one-shot to multi-chaptered!
1. Let's Get Complicated

"Tucker."

I sat up in my seat drowsily. It was pretty easy to fall asleep during school assemblies, as Danny had shown by falling asleep about two seconds after the show started. He was probably tired from trying to fend off some ghost last night, but I wouldn't know. Lately, he's been acting like his whole super-hero alter-ego is no big deal, and he knows that it pisses me off that he's acting like it's not worth mentioning. Ever since that stupid Desiree showed up, things have been weird between us.

Sam took it upon herself to be the buffer of our group. She was sitting between us, and she had been lazily sketching in the margins of her biology notes when I drifted off. Now she held out her fist to me, thumb up, with a grin on her face. "Epic thumb war," she said. "Right now."

Ever since we were young, most of our serious decisions were made through thumb war victories. You'd think that would change since we're nearly sixteen, but nope. It's still our favorite way to kill some time in school. Even though there wasn't anything to decide, it was practically the law that you could not turn down an epic thumb war.

I leaned forward, pulling my hat down and grabbing her hand. "It's so on," I said.

"Alright," Sam said, tugging our fists towards her so we were centered. "One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war!"

As soon as the countdown finished, we both started tugging our fists back, trying to get enough leverage to pin each other's thumb. Danny says this is completely breaking the rules, but Sam and I say that anything goes. We leaned forward, taking advantage of our hidden location in the back of the auditorium to get fully into the game. Suddenly Sam pinned my thumb, and I lurched forward as she did, trying to tug out of her grasp in time.

Our faces were suddenly an inch apart, and for a second we just stared at each other, until I ducked my eyes and murmured, "Sorry."

Instead of moving back, Sam closed her eyes and leaned forward the last inch to kiss me.

Energy jolted through me, and I closed my eyes. This was Sam. Danny's girlfriend. My friend since childhood. Why didn't this feel awkward?

Her left hand rested on my knee, and without thinking I covered it with my own. After a moment, we pulled apart, and a smile crept across Sam's face. I probably just looked startled.

She looked down at our right hands, with her thumb still pinning mine. "I win, then," she said softly.

"I guess you did?" I whispered.

Danny stirred behind her, and instantly we tugged apart and sat back in our seats, not daring to even share the armrest. He yawned loudly, and stretched his legs out. "Assemblies are so boring," he mumbled, barely coherent.

I would disagree.

I think things just got a little more complicated.


	2. Perfectly Good Reasons

Danny shifted in his seat, turning away from Sam and me, still murmuring about how boring assemblies were. Sam reached up and touched her lips. The video onstage continued without interruption, but it suddenly seemed harder to see in the dim light.

I leaned over suddenly, fumbling for my jacket and backpack from under my seat. My face was on fire, I was sure of it.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked.

I stood up and roughly pushed my arms into the sleeves and tried not to look at her eyes. "I have to go," I said. The auditorium suddenly felt too hot and claustrophobic to be sitting this close to Sam—this close to Sam and Danny _together_. There were too many people in here. I needed to leave.

From the row next to us, Lancer coughed while staring pointedly at us. "Sit down, Foley," he warned, gesturing. Sighing, I sat back down, glaring at my backpack and leaning a little away from Sam. I glanced at my watch. Only a few minutes left until the end of the day.

"Tucker, I think that you're overreacting," she whispered, tucking her hair behind her ears. As she set her hand back on the armrest, Danny sleepily reached out to grab it. I scowled and looked back up at Sam.

"I beg to differ!" I whispered quickly. "I think I'm reacting exactly enough! Why aren't you doing anything about this?"

Sam rolled her eyes a little. "Tucker, you need to relax. We can talk this out, there's no reason to flip out—"

"There's a perfectly good reason to flip out!" I said, pointing towards Danny, who had slumped back in his chair. My voice dropped to a nearly inaudible whisper. "Right in front of your boyfriend? Why did…?"

Her face flushed scarlet, a stark contrast to her gothic makeup. "Oh, so this is all my fault. Not like you didn't respond at _all_ when it happened! No, it's just slutty Sam's fault—"

"I didn't say it was a bad kiss!" I blurted. "This is just—wrong, we can't—"

The school bell rang loudly above our heads, and Danny jolted upright in his seat. As he looked around in confusion, his grip on Sam's hand tightened. She looked at me, and for a second I couldn't identify her emotion. Lost? Hurt? But she dropped her gaze, and I cast a quick glance at their clasped hands before standing up and turning away. If I couldn't bear to be scrutinized by Sam, I would surely burn from shame under Danny's blue eyes.

Before the other students roused themselves from their daze to wander to the hallways, I ran from the auditorium.

What have I done?


End file.
